The present invention relates to the handling of parcels within a sorting or similar facility.
In a sorting facility for parcels, parcels are unloaded from trucks or other vehicles at unloading locations, sorted, and then loaded onto trucks or other vehicles at loading locations for delivery to the intended recipients. Thus, within the sorting facility, there is often a complex system of conveyors and equipment that facilitates transport and sorting of the parcels within the facility.
When first introduced into the system of conveyors and equipment, the parcels are randomly positioned on a conveyor in a “bulk flow.” Thus, within the sorting facility, the first step is often to transform the bulk flow into a singulated flow of parcels in which the parcels are positioned at substantially equal intervals and aligned (i.e., in a single file line) along a conveyor for subsequent processing. A wide variety of singulators exist in the art, many of which employ various combinations of belt conveyors and/or roller conveyors to achieve the desired singulation of the parcels. However, there are certain deficiencies in such prior art systems. For example, a surge in the volume of parcels may overwhelm the mechanical systems, and parcels may not be fully singulated. Non-singulated parcels may then interfere with subsequent processing, including downstream sorting.
Accordingly, there remains a need for systems and methods for identifying and transferring parcels from a bulk flow into a singulated stream of parcels, which is subsequently delivered to a sorter.